Following council consideration of the five action items on the Crockett city council agenda Monday night, Oct. 6, Councilman Darius Kitchen indicated he wanted to make some comments.
The Precinct 2 councilman said, "During the storms a number of signs were torn down at businesses. We should be able to rebuild those signs."
Kitchen added, "There are no provisions in the ordinance to deal with extreme situations" and then called on audience member Ansel Bradshaw to make additional comments.
In his comments Bradshaw said, "A couple of weeks ago we received a letter from City Administrator Ron Duncan about the wind event that occurred in Crockett." He continued by saying the wind event was hurricane force winds and that some of their billboards had been blown down.
He said they were asking that they be able to replace the signs in pre-op condition. He said another little thing was that some of the signs were permitted in a cluster and not as individual signs and that he tried to get a permit to rebuild them but was denied.
"I am speaking on behalf of the sign company we work with, Magic Media," Bradshaw said in his closing comments.
Responding to Bradshaw, Duncan said, "There is an appeal process in the ordinance. The proper procedure is outlined in the ordinance."
Duncan concluded his comments by saying, "We expect Magic Media to appeal to the Planning and Zoning Commission and they will make a recommendation to council."
During the business portion of the meeting, council approved an ordinance adopting the city of Crockett Hazard Mitigation Action Plan. Mayor Wayne Mask said he had met with Houston County Emergency Management Coordinator David Lamb regarding the renewal of the program.
An ordinance granting a 30-year-franchise to CenterPoint Energy was approved by council. Duncan said the agreement also provides for five percent of gross receipts to be provided to the city.
A resolution authorizing submission of an application to the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs for Home Investment Partnership Program Funds was unanimously approved.
Council authorized the submission of a Texas Community Development Block Grant Program application for sanitary sewer improvements.
Councilman Bill Holcomb was absent from the meeting.